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Coffee and
Cigarettes
A film review by Taryn A. Harris
Jim Jarmusch has done it again!
The Ohio born, writer/director
has a gift for taking the mundane and the ordinary and making
it beautiful. The film has a very foreign (French) feel minus
the subtitles, and with lots more American wit.
I LOATHE coffee and cigarettes,
(I have other vices, thank you very much), but liking them, isn't
a prerequisite.
Coffee and Cigarettes is a series
of black and white vignettes, set mostly in coffee shops/cafes/diners,
etc. where parties of two or more are seen extolling the virtues
of caffeine and nicotine or cursing their addictions. Each story
builds on the other and dialogue is repeated, but it's all engaging.
The first story, Strange To
Meet You stars comedian Steven Wright and Italian actor Roberto
Benigni. Steven Wright doesn't seem to age, and neither does
his humor. He tells Roberto Benigni that he likes to drink coffee
before he goes to bed so he can dream faster.
In Somewhere in California,
Iggy Pop and Tom Waits size each other up with comic results.
Good job Iggy! Who knew you could emote so well?
Alfred Molina and Steve Coogan
are fantastic in Cousins?
No Problem with Alex Descas and Isaach De Bankole
is quiet and slow, but features great music by the Skatalites.
And although the final story
titled Champagne, starring Bill Rice and Taylor Meade
is charming and sweet and tugs at the heart, my favorite vignette
is Delirium with Gza and Rza (Wu-Tang Clan) and Bill Murray.
Watching Bill Murray guzzle coffee straight from the pot while
Rza explains the evils of caffeine is hilarious. Bill Murray
-- his name is repeated often by Rza and Gza, is an absolute
comic genius and I 'm extremely glad he's finally getting his
due.
I LOVED Coffee and Cigarettes!
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